Japan Nikkei falls 1%

Japan share market finished session deeply in negative territory on Wednesday, 03 April 2024, on following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight and a tsunami warning issued by Japan in the morning after an earthquake in Taiwan, with shares in precision instrument, iron and steel, information & communication, and electric appliance issues leading losses.

Overnight, Wall Street stocks finished decisively lower as expectations for a delayed pivot on US monetary policy added to selling pressure. Adding to the selling pressure has been a rise in US Treasury bond yields -- a proxy for interest rates.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average index was down 387.06 points, or 0.97%, to 39,451.85. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 7.94 points, 0.29%, to 2,706.51.

Total 18 of 33 TSE sectors declined along with broader Topix index, with Other Products being worst performing sector, falling 2.45%, followed by Precision Instruments (down 1.66%), Iron & Steel (down 1.04%), Information & Communication (down 0.91%), and Electric Appliances (down 0.9%) sectors. Mining issue was top performer, gaining 3%, followed by Electric Power & Gas (up 2%), Marine Transportation (up 1.54%), and Banks (up 1.16%) sectors.

Among blue chip shares, Toyota was down 0.4% at 3,620 yen, Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing dropped 3.3% to 45,410 yen, and Nintendo lost 4.2% to 7,806 yen. Nippon Steel fell 2.1% to 3,613 yen. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest declined 2.1% to 6,300 yen.

In economic news, the service sector in Japan continued to expand in March, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a service PMI score of 54.1. That's up from 52.9 and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

CURRENCY NEWS: Japanese yen moved little in the upper 151 range against greenback on a wait-and-see attitude ahead of U.S. employment data to be released later in the week. Yen fetched 151.59 per greenback compared with 151.69 in Tokyo at 5pm on Tuesday.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News